Never Broken
by Jaydee B Bailey
Summary: She sees the cracks and notices the changes. How is Helen supposed to deal with something she doesn't know how to interpret? H/N est. contains traces of ship and un-shippy situations. And some mystery. Set after season 4.
1. Epilogue

**Never Broken**

**-Prologue**

The sound of footsteps echoed in her mind as she lay on the floor, face down. She had to get up. Get moving and find Nikola. He had to be around somewhere. She slowly moved her arms under her body and pushed herself up as much as she could. Her hands were scraped and small droplets of blood fell to the ground. Helen grunted and winced as the fading sound bounced back from the walls of the tunnel. She managed to get on her knees so she could take in her surroundings.

_I was... _

The walls seemed to be closing in on her and all she could focus on were the words written on them in paint so dark red that they seemed black in the artificial light: 'You're already dead'.

_...never..._

She tried to get up, ignoring her protesting body. She could do this. She could fight. A grunt escaped her mouth as she pushed up from the dirty floor and ignored the dizzy spell that came with the action.

_...broken!_

Her knees gave out first, causing Helen to fall again. Instinctively she rolled on her back to avoid lying on the wound on her side. A wave of pain flooded trough her body and she let out a frustrated cry. She couldn't stay here, she couldn't move. She couldn't go and find Nikola and she couldn't lose him. Not again.

Deep breaths... She moved her fingers, digging them into the grime and litter surrounding her. Helen Magnus was alive. Not kicking, but still alive. She would get up and... and fight. She moved her legs and planned her big 'get up' when she heard the sound again. Loud at first and softer as the echo carried it trough the rest of the tunnel. It was a giggle, belonging to a child.

''No''

She felt powerless and the taste of her own blood in her mouth made her feel nauseous. The sound of footsteps approached her once again and the first visual sign she got was that of a outstretched silhouette on the wall closest to her.

''Please. Not again... Please...''

She knew that begging wouldn't make it stop. Nothing she'd do would, but it didn't matter. The child now towered over her and flashed Helen a wicked smile.

''Don't you like our game, Helen? I do. Don't you like me?''

Helen rolled over and pulled her knees to her torso without even realizing that she was doing it.

''Stop.''

''Do you give up Helen?''

The sing-song voice made her look up to the child. It was a girl, not looking a year over ten. Her dark hair was pulled back in a pony tail. She held a dripping ice cream cone in one hand, while she wiped the other on her blue jeans. Her big green eyes held Helen's.

''Never.''

The child giggled again and shook her head.

''That's what the vampire said as well. Grown ups have no fantasy left.''

Helen focused on the ice cream, desperate to find something ...normal.

''Let's play again Helen. You're hurt, so I'll give you a head start this time. ''

''Please...''

''Twentyyy...''

Ice cream dripped on the girl's yellow sneakers. Only now did Helen notice it was deep red.

''Nineteeen...''

She locked eyes with the girl again.

''What happened to Nikola?''

The child narrowed her eyes, balled her fists and broke the cone in the process.

''Play with me, Helen.''

''No!''

In one swift move, a hand moved around Helen's neck and hauled her up against a wall.

''That. Wasn't. A. Question!''

''Where... is ...he?''

The sound came out distorted and the pressure on her windpipe increased as she spoke. Panic began to take possession of her as the smell of strawberry ice cream filled her nostrils.

''Suit yourself.''

Her vision swam and once again, Helen couldn't help but stare at the writing on the wall opposite of her.

_'You're already dead'_.

...

* * *

**Too short? Confused? More soon! :)  
I've been wanting to write a creepy kid story or a while now...**


	2. Broken

**Never Broken**

**-Broken**

**One month ago**

Helen could feel him watching her. At least, she thought she could, but it could also be her wanting him to watch her. Knowing that she was in danger of having her innocent little fantasy shredded, she cast a glance in Nikola's direction. Much to her pleasure, he didn't even try to hide his intense stare. Their eyes locked and Helen in turn, did nothing to cover the sly grin that was growing in her on face. She knew she shouldn't encourage him, especially with her main staff in the room, but it had only been an hour since she had woken up and the fuzzy haze of their pre-meeting make out still somewhat lingered in her mind. And this was Helen. The object of her current thoughts probably had much more difficulties keeping up with the work related chatter around him, for he seemed out of his mind bored by it all. She winked at him and turned to face Will.

''...That doesn't mean they deserved to get slaughtered.''

''I know Magnus, but they all knew that there was a chance they could end up dead in an alley.''

''Harsh dude.''

''The question is...'' Helen put in, ''...what are we going to do about it?''

The room fell silent and all eyes were fixed on her now. They already knew what Helen wanted to do. She had old them at the start of the meeting and no one had come up with any other ideas. She knew this meeting was a waste of time and she blamed the current peace and quiet in their line of work. All was well, smooth sailing, sugar but no spice. Nikola definitely wasn't the only one who was bored, they all seemed to suffer from it.

''We'll investigate.''

Nikola waved his hand in the air as his head rested on the back of the sofa. Will, on the other hand, didn't seem as ...happy about springing into action as Nikola did.

''They're professional criminals Magnus. Dealers, con men, thieves... There's no evidence for the involvement of any kind of abnormal, except for that single anonymous message. Adressed to _Tesla_.''

''A note sent by someone who clearly knew where and how to contact us.'' Nikola added, seemingly happy about being able to voice an opinion opposite to that of Helen's protege. Happy enough to ignore Wills tone of voice. He sat up and moved forward, resting his arms on his legs.

''I thought that by now, you would have learnt to look for the unicorn where everyone else sees horses.''

* * *

**Present day**

''I win again. Are you even trying, Helen? You seem distracted.''

Helen closed her eyes. She was exhausted but not quite at her breaking point. She'd been struggling to keep up. To keep thinking and find a way to win this. She had fought, tried to reason and bargain with the child who obviously wasn't what she appeared to be. She had tried to keep in mind that she was dealing with an abnormal and that she could either help the girl, or find a proper way to handle her. It was supposed to be her forte. Instead, Helen had resorted to begging or her life. She knew she was dealing with evil. She had seen the gleam in that little girl's eyes and it made her shiver.

''Is it the vampire? Are you still thinking about him? My mommy would have told you that regret comes after the sin. Do you regret what happened Helen? What you did to Mr. Tesla? 'Cause you should. Betrayal cuts deep, you know.''

Nikola. He was out there somewhere. Helen felt a rush of energy run trough her and she slowly pushed herself up from her spot on the floor. The girl stood in front of her and looked up with a bemused expression on her ice cream covered face.

''You move very well for someone so old!''

She needed to ignore the voice and focus on ...everything. Helen turned, biting her already bleeding lip and rested her head and hands against the wall. It wouldn't matter if her back was turned to the child. She took a deep ragged breath and hoped that her legs wouldn't give out again.

''I thought it was very mean of you. I told Mr. Tesla, but he said it was what you always did. I saw it, you know... Men, women, old or young, you make them believe that they're different. That they matter to you. You play with them. And when they break, you toss them out or replace them with a new toy...''

Helen eyed the titanium ring on her finger, which was now tainted with blood and dirt. The words spoken to her stung, but also fed her drive to survive this mess and make things right.

''...humans aren't toys Helen. They feel and hurt and love when they know they shouldn't. You're blessed and you don't even see it, blind as you are for the ones who are willing to give you all they have.''

''Shut up.''

The girl pouted and cocked her head.

''That's no way to talk to a kid, Helen. Did you talk that way to your daughter? 'Cause if you did, I understand why she killed herself.''

Helen didn't even realize what happened, nor that she had the strength, but in one swift move, she threw herself against the girl and knocked her against the opposite wall of the tunnel. She heard the thud caused by the small body slamming into the concrete. The girl let out an angry growl and threw Helen back on the floor as if she didn't weigh more than a rag doll.

''Don't. Ever. Do that. Again! First you don't want to play with me and now you go and do this?''

The child straddled her and a sharp pain spread through Helens body from her ribs. A cry escaped her mouth and the girl placed her hands on Helen's shoulders.

''Don't worry Helen. I'll still be your best friend!''

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't shake the weight that was pressing down on her and when whe felt two sticky hands on the sides of her face, she knew that she was about to lose another round.

* * *

**One month ago**

''I still think we're wasting our time.''

Helen gritted her teeth. She knew Will was still trying to figure out where he stood with her and that in time, all would be better, but right now she felt like strangling him. Protege or not. Looking up, she caught Nikola rolling his eyes. She knew that the only reason he didn't verbally attack Will was that she asked him not to. Unsurprisingly, Henry was the one to steer everyone in the right direction.

''So... the note says we should find the next body here. ... It's not here.''

''Maybe it's hidden somewhere?''

She pulled a face at her own comment as she looked around. They were in an open field and she was pretty sure there were no places to properly hide a human body. She sighed. Maybe they were too late. Or too early. Nikola seemed to read her thoughts.

''The note specifically mentions the date and the location, like one of those movie ransom notes. I thought it was rather tacky.''

''So we wait.''

She heard Will sigh in response, Henry was too busy scanning the area to show any kind of reaction and Nikola simply nodded.

''For as long as it - ''

Helen caught a glimpse of a short flash of light from the corner of her eyes and the familiarity of it made Helen's heart jump. It couldn't be... He was supposed to be dead. She was frozen to the spot and refused to turn around to see if her suspicion was right, but the look on Nikola's face gave her all the information she needed. Even Wills curiosity seemed to have returned.

''Druitt?!''

Her protege stared at her former fiance and her current lover balled his fists as if he was preparing to spring into action.

''Helen...''

His voice still had enough power over her to make her turn around and face him. He looked worn out, a little more fragile than she was used to and above all... alive. Her breath hitched by the fact that he stood there as well as the sight of the limp and bloodied body he was holding in his arms as if it didn't weigh anything.

''..this man needs your help.''

He looked at her pleadingly and didn't show as much as a sign that there was anyone else in the field beside the two of them. She had so many questions, felt so many emotions and for a moment, she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. She heard Nikola scrape his throat and the sound make her snap out of it. She still didn't know what kind of action would hold wisdom the most, so for now she would have to rely on what she knew made sense.

''Let's take him to the Sanctuary.''

* * *

**Present Day**

''WooHoo! You're awake again!''

Helen slowly opened her eyes and felt the skin on her face burn. She was alive. She flexed her fingers and even though they all moved, she was certain she had broken some.

''I know it when you're about to wake up Helen. I've observed and studied, just like you told me and now I can tell.''

Helen grunted and tried her legs. Also moving, not broken.

''...You are a bit grumpy.''

Her ribs hurt more than before, but she could manage the pain.

''Mr. Tesla didn't mention that, but I'm sure you've been acting grumpy to him as well lately.''

She was going to find Nikola, get out of here and make things right. She would heal eventually and so would he.

''Jack _did_ seem very pleased with you though... I bet you've been nice to him.''

They were going to talk, she was going to patch things up with Will and she would tell Henry how awesome he was.

''He asked you to play right? Like old, close friends do?''

The girl was smiling down at her. Sweetly.

''And you didn't say no to him...''

Helen wished she could at least ball her fists. Strike out. She wished she could jump up and run.

''Grown ups are funny.''

The girl turned around and bounced away, not worried about turning her back to Helen.

''See you later, Helenator!''

Time for another attempt to escape.

~TBC~

* * *

**Did some rewriting, so I'm sorry about the wait! At least I hadn't posted much of the story yet :)**

**Thanks for your time!**


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